CLEVELAND — Changes continue to sweep through the Cleveland Browns’ front office.
One day after officially naming Andrew Berry the new general manager, the Browns reportedly have parted ways with two well-known and high-ranking personnel men: Alonzo Highsmith and assistant general manager Eliot Wolf.
According to ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen, “the Browns have decided to officially part ways with” Wolf and Highsmith, continuing to restructure the front office in an effort to find the organizational alignment desired by owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam.
The Browns’ ownership group feels synergy between the coach (Kevin Stefanski), general manager (Berry) and analytics department (headed up by Paul DePodesta) will be what gets the organization back on solid footing after seemingly endless turnover in the front office and on-field leadership since the Haslams purchased a controlling stake in the team during the 2012 season.
Wolf and Highsmith were brought to Cleveland by former general manager John Dorsey in January of 2018 with solid reputations in NFL circles after lengthy stints with the Green Bay Packers.
Wolf, the son of former Packers general manager/Pro Football Hall of Fame contributor Ron Wolf, spent 14 years with Green Bay, including serving as the team’s director of football operations.
A Hall of Fame athlete at the University of Miami (Florida) and former NFL player, Highsmith spent nearly two decades, 19 years, in Green Bay’s front office. From 2012-2017, Highsmith was the Packers’ senior personnel executive. Previously, he spent 13 years in the team’s college scouting department.
Under Berry’s direction, the Browns will reshape the front office, while at the same time, prepare for the 2020 NFL Draft.
The 2020 Senior Bowl was held in Mobile, Alabama, last week, before Berry agreed to leave the Philadelphia Eagles’ front office to rejoin the Browns, and now, the next phase of the evaluation process is the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana in late February/early March.
At the Combine, Berry and his coaches will have 15 fewer interview slots than in past years, as the NFL has cut the nightly meetings from 60 to 45 in 2020, but those sessions will be extended by several minutes each.
After the Combine, the Browns will host up to 30 prospects at team headquarters in the weeks leading up to the draft.
The 2020 NFL Draft is set for Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, April 25 in Las Vegas.